HARRISBURG — Sixty-five million people turn the lights on every day thanks in large part to the oversight of the nation’s largest power grid operator, PJM.Thirteen states, including Pennsylvania, plus Washington D.C., rely on the century-old organization to manage the flow of power across the system minute-by-minute, as well as plan for future electricity needs — like more power to supply data centers, electric vehicle charging stations, and energy storage for solar and wind farms.PJM, however, can only plan within the parameters set by state and federal governments. That is, thick red tape and tax breaks meant to incentivize the development of new power producers – as critics and independent market monitors have warned – appear to have accelerated the retirement of fossil fuel plants faster than developers can get renewable replacements up and running.The grid operator’s most recent auction to secure enough power to meet demand in the coming year illustrated the point starkly: the cost to run the grid will climb 800% as of June 1, meaning utility bills will skyrocket by roughly 30%, according to multiple estimates.Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday that PJM is to blame. In a complaint filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the administration said the power grid needs to adjust the math used in its auctions and speed up the approval of new energy projects to prevent a $20.4 billion hit to consumers.“As the demand for energy continues to increase, my administration is taking action to demand PJM fix its broken processes and adopt common sense reforms that will allow us to produce more power and meet record-high electricity demand, while keeping costs low for hardworking families,” he said. “My administration stands ready to support PJM in implementing these reforms to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable power for consumers for the long term.”It’s not that simple, however.Nearly all the planned projects in line for construction are for renewable resources – think solar, wind and battery storage. Clearing the backlog is slow, and projects given the go-ahead by PJM still must overcome permitting challenges and fluctuating supply chain prices that extend initial construction timelines by years.As such, PJM has warned that many of the coming replacements won’t be up and running within the next two or three years, meaning the cost to support the system in the interim will rise.It’s a chain reaction for which lawmakers and regulatory agencies have much greater control, of which PJM is neither.In Pennsylvania, the “P” in PJM, 25% of the energy necessary to power the grid is generated. And the tension between renewable energy investment and fossil fuel power generation has been boiling over in the commonwealth for years – ever since former Gov. Tom Wolf signed the state up for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative without legislative support.The initiative charges power plants for air pollution and uses the mo
Mer. Gen 8th, 2025
